Homily Twenty-Ninth Saturday of Ordinary Time (Lk 13: 1-5) “Do People Get What They Deserve?”
Homily Twenty-Ninth Saturday of Ordinary Time (Lk 13: 1-5) “Do People Get What They Deserve?”
Old Testament Theology had a definite belief that if someone suffered it was probably brought on by the immoral life they were leading. There was a direct connection.
We see some men come to Jesus and ask him about two events that had tragic endings. The first situation revolved around a political protest, against the Roman government. Pilate (the Roman governor) violently broke up the protest. He killed many of those who were at odds with the government.
The second event Jesus is asked about was an accident. Some workmen were building a Roman aqueduct and the tower they were working on collapsed. There was a theory that since they were cooperating with the Romans this misfortune befell them.
Jesus does not buy into the idea that if some terrible misfortune happens to someone, they in some way deserve it. We all know good people who seem to suffer a lot in life. Maybe they are struck with some terrible disease or they have the misfortune of having an accident.
Jesus also seems to say through his fig tree parable that God has a lot of patience, but our Lord’s patience does have an end point. We can’t count on having an infinite amount of time to reform our lives. At some point our time on earth will run out so we need to strive to have our house in order.
Reflection Questions:
- Have I known good people who have had misfortune in life? How do I reconcile this reality?
- Is God patient? How do I see this patience playing out in my own life?
Dear Parishioners,
We have reached the end of the first quarter of our school year. So far two staff members at Seton School have contracted COVID 19, but none of our students have. We have been most fortunate. There also has been no infections at our religious education classes.
Someone may ask how we would notify people, if we know somebody has contracted COVID and have been at a parish event. An exposure would mean that an individual would be within six foot of people for 15 minutes or more. The infected person would also have to test positive or have symptoms within three days of the time they were in church, at a meeting, etc. If someone falls into these categories, we will then have to notify the persons they were in contact with, but we cannot give the name of the infected person because of confidentiality.
This is very complicated, but it might be a question of when rather than if. We will do our best to follow the procedures so we can keep everyone safe.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark